Lifeguard

Written by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

Narrated by Billy Campbell

A classic summer heist thriller from the most popular storyteller of our time. 

High risk, high reward — a $5 million heist is the perfect job for lifeguard Ned Kelly. But when it all goes horribly wrong, he discovers a world of secrets and sabotage. 

Working at a luxurious Florida resort, Ned Kelly meets the woman of his dreams. It feels perfect in every way, except that she's used to caviar and Manolo Blahniks, and he's used to burgers and flip-flops. So, when Ned's cousin offers to cut him in on a fast break-and-enter job, he can't turn it down. The risk is high, and the reward is even greater — $5 million. 
 
But the robbery goes devastatingly wrong. Forced to run away from his town and the woman he's fallen in love with, Ned knows that only distance and secrecy can save his life. But who is pursuing him? The FBI? Whoever sabotaged the heist? Or is it all somehow tied to his new love . . . and his oldest enemies? 

Discover a vivid, nail-biting crime thriller from "one of America's most influential authors" (New York Times). You won't be able to put it down. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Aug 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9781594832437

Reviews for Lifeguard

[lbswiener · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lifeguard is an excellent story about art theft. A lot of lives were unnecessarily lost over someone's paintings. It was a believable story with believable characters. Five stars were given to this book.

[leisjenn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overall Lifeguard is a pretty quick paced book, you just blink and there has been another murder. It is an excellent summer, beach read and keeps the story moving so you are really never bored. And what isn’t there to love about it, murder, million dollar art theft, framed man on the run! While it isn’t Patterson’s most famous or greatest book I think it is a great introduction to his books. I would recommend checking it out.

[petrichor8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

really good read, had a hard time putting it down

[jguidry-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story had an interesting and exciting storyline. I enjoyed the non-stop action and the twists and turns provided by Patterson and Gross. The characters were interesting (I loved Champ and would gladly read more about him) and I constantly wanted to read more. Until the ending. The authors should have ended the book a few chapters earlier than they did. By trying to wrap the story up with a pretty bow, I lost interest and stopped caring. If they had ended with the meeting between Ned and Sollie to wrap up the lose ends, this would have easily been a 4 or even a 5 star book for me. Having said that, it was worth reading!

[carol420 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ned Kelly makes his living as a lifeguard at a Florida resort, but when he meets Tess he realizes he'll need an increase in his salary to keep her in the lifestyle she is accustomed to. Ned's friends offer to cut him in on a deal if he agrees to be their look-out man and driver. The plan is simple, Ned is to set off a series of house alarms to send the police in a frenzy, while they run around checking the false alarms Ned's friends will break into a house holding a fortune in priceless art. In and out, it's an easy job until they enter the house to find all the art already stolen. Within hours, all of Ned's friends are murdered as well as Tess, and he is on the run for his life as the police want him for murder and the killer wants him dead.

I suggest that you give this easy and quick read a chance and enjoy it. There are some interesting revelations and plots.

[sollimath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Spannend, gute Charaktere.

[whybehave2002 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this man!! I listened to this in the car and was in tears a couple times. He's a wonderful writer!

[wareagle78 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Intriguing murder mystery, but I don't like this work as much as Patterson's Alex Cross series.

[jbemrose_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ned Kelly (lifeguard) can't turn down a job his cousin Mickey offers to cut him in. The art theft in writh $ 5 million. The robbery gose wrong. Ned's friends end up dead and ned ends up on the run. the only help to get him out is a FBI agent Ellie Shurtleff. It has twists,action, and suspense. I could not put it down.

[gma2lana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always enjoy a quick read by James Patterson, this book moved along for me for the most part, I think it stalled in the middle but picked back up again to a decent finish.

[davidlerickson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the better books I've read of patterson's. The protagonist, his petite FBI girlfriend and most of the cast were realistic and the story line intriguing. There were enough jumps and twists to keep me turning pages.
The only real bump in the narrative was the way Mr. Evil (Stratton) died. Yeah, I know they had to have a darn good reason to plug the lowlife, but it just seemed way to contrived for me. I'd much rather had seen him arrested and locked up for life than die the way he did.
Having lived in the area covered by the novel (Palm Beach), it was visiting a friend. I felt the portrayal of Palm Beach life was spot on. And I didn't guess who Stratton's inside man was until he was revealed, having been led astray by the red herring (Detective Lawson). Good job that.

[sonicquack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With the usual breakneck speed, Patterson delivers twists and excitement in his usual narrative style. Make sure the brain is parked for this one, since the central theme (a mismatched buddy movie concept) requires a staggering leap of faith. That aside, the novel is great fun, with plenty of interesting (although somewhat stereotypical) characters and the pace never drops below a sprint. Offering easy reading for a few hours, Lifeguard is simple and fun.

[jthierer_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A few too many coincidences for my taste, but they moved the plot along well enough.

[debavp · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if I've ever looked closely at all the blank and half pages in a Patterson book, but I figure on this one I could knock at least ninety of the pages off the 393 total as such. Again, another quick beach read. Nothing overly thrilling, but still enjoyable. Empty calories as it were, and a truly ridiculous fairy tale ending. If he'd just stopped at mention of the will it would have been a much more befitting and enjoyable end to the story.

[fishhook7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I often find that when an author I enjoy pairs with someone as they transition out of novel writing I don't care for the result (as with Cussler). However, I liked the result in this case just fine.James Patterson has always been someone I enjoyed reading but I don't know if I ever felt more strongly about any of his books. So, it's been a long time since I've been in the mood to read one of his books. (A little insight, I have to be in exactly the mood to read a particular book. So there are books on my to-read shelf that have been sitting there waiting for the perfect time for many years.)Back to the book, there were plenty of twists and turns to make this interseting and plenty of heartache and heartbreak to make this a psychological thriller. However, I think that's a little too intense of a word. I found it a very quick, easy, and enjoyable read.

[djupstrom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun, easy, beach read. Predictable plot. Nothing fancy.

[kat327 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The FBI agent sounded as immature as Ned and I couldn't take their corny diaglogue. I had to force my way through this book and was not thrilled with the ending. I am looking for a good author and was very disappointed. I will though give Patterson another try.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lifeguard was an interesting fast paced thriller. It's not very believable, however it is fast paced with a decent story going on behind it. Ned Kelly is a lifeguard in Palm Beach, though he has been many different things prior to that. Minor felon, High School Teacher and College Hockey Star are all hats Ned has worn at one time or another. After Ned went to college he left his life of crime behind him, or did he? His best friends are handed a cushy B&E job to steal some paintings for a collector from a private residence, and they are even given the security code. Ned's job isn't even on site, he gets to run around town and set off Burglary alarms to help keep the small police force busy and away from the mark's house. Ned does his part perfectly, but something goes terribly wrong on the other end, many people get killed and things just keep going downhill from there for poor Ned.

Overall it's got a good pace to keep your attention, I listened to this in the car during my commute and it helped the time slip by. If you're a James Patterson fan it's about average for him not poor or exceptional.

[hammockqueen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

ned kelly & tess gets killed. Teams up with FBi woman agent to solve missing paintings and whokilled his friends. I'm not much of a mystery person so I got a little nuts with this.

[skinglist · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I quite liked this one, and everytime I thought I knew who it was, typical Patterson kept me guessing. One memo to Patterson, they don't need to fall in love in every book :)

[wispywillow · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I got started with James Patterson with Kiss the Girls, which was a decent book. There was a second one I read that I was less impressed with.

This one is one of the worst books I've ever read. Actually, I did this one on audiobook--and the sound effects and music did not improve the story, but just showed how cheesy it actually was.

No more James Patterson for me. Ever.

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Patterson's better efforts of late. My only complaint is that I think the scheme is a little over complicated. Towards the end I felt like I needed a notebook to keep track of who was double-crossing who.

[df1a_brindleyf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ned Kelly does not have the ordinary life. His first hope at love is murdered on the same night his four best friends are brutally murdered. At first it was a chance of a life time art heist for his friends and himself to come into five million dollars. Yet the heist was set up by someone unknown under the name of Gatchet. Ned seeks to avenge his friends and prove his is not the murderer. Or is he?

[heptonj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not the usual characters from these two authors but an excellent read all the same. The hero/villain is not as street-wise as he thinks.

[jlcampbell05 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lifeguard accused of murder teams up with FBI agent to clear himself.

[fantasma_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another usual Patterson (or is it Gross???) book, full of suspense, twists and action. There were some bits though I felt it weren't really explained, and I felt lost in a couple of situations, but nevertheless an enjoyable and quick read.

[kathy89_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Complicated mystery involving art theft, murder, distrust, set-up among the wealthy of Palm Beach. Love story when the art expert from the FBI starts investigating the stooge set-up for murdering the art thieves.